My primary goals as a future science educator will be to install passion for knowledge and learning, to eliminate any misunderstandings of the sciences that students may hold, and to inspire students to think and act like scientists. I believe that it's important to be able to think critically, to synthesize ideas, to evaluate information, and to successfully communicate thoughts in both oral and written form. I believe these skills to be valuable for a career in science as well as in any other career and in everyday life.
Also, as a future teacher, I am very hopeful and excited about the idea of changing students' lives. I am really looking forward to having "little minds" all to myself for a whole school year in hopes to install some passion for knowledge in them.
My reason behind wanting to install passion for knowledge and learning is pretty straightforward: there is so much information around us to learn! By installing passion for learning, students will naturally gravitate towards new and exciting material.
What I mean by being able to engage in scientifically critical thinking, is that students should learn to be open to new information; they should be able to absorb, analyze, and evaluate information that's presented to them. I'd like to teach my students to be able to critically think about new material and to explain it in their own words rather than just memorize facts.
As far as promoting critical thinking in my own classroom, I will definitely establish a classroom climate that is based on mutual regard and respect. This kind of environment would give a real purpose to my teaching and would go beyond any technical aspects of a teacher's role. I would demand from myself to be as authentic as I possibly could be. A few key things that I would attempt to do in my classroom are the following:
analyze my own thinking processes and classroom practices, and provide reasons for what I will be doing
plan my lessons thoroughly and well in advance (great lesson learned from student teaching experience)
be open-minded; encourage students to follow their own thinking rather than simply repeat what the "teacher has said"
provide a wide selection of activities and assignments for students to make choices from
exhibit genuine interest, passion, curiosity, and commitment to learning
be sensitive to others' feelings, level of knowledge, and degree of sophistication
allow for student participation in rule setting and decision making, related to all aspects of learning, including assessment and evaluation
To achieve these goals, I will aspire to show my students that I care about them and their education. I plan on being a very approachable teacher. My goal as a future educator is to be a great role model for the students, to motivate them to give their very best in school and to express respect towards learning as well as towards their peers in the classroom. As a science teacher, I realize that I need to constantly provide opportunities for the students to be engaged and to be able to relate to the material being taught. I plan on incorporating teaching strategies that will help the students to actively participate in learning. For example, labs are a great way for the students to apply the lecture information through activity and exploration. In the laboratory, students can question the lecture material, develop hypotheses, design experiments, and collect as well as analyze data. In addition, I plan on providing numerous opportunities for group work during lessons. Socialization and peer learning/teaching is of great importance during adolescent years and I intend to generate as many opportunities for that as I possibly can. Also, I've learned (through student teaching experience) that connecting the material in the classroom to students' lives is extremely important. Throughout my student teaching, I've found it helpful and useful to bring in current news events that relate to the whatever topic we're learning. Also, students really enjoy this, they often bring in their own articles or share any news they've heard on the radio or seen on the TV. This kind of sharing of current new events has been a great way for connecting the classroom material to the real world.
I truly enjoy learning myself and especially science. I love the critical thinking aspect about the sciences. It is so fascinating and it applies to everyday life and literally to every person. I intend to inspire my future students to love learning and to continually seek new challenges in acquiring knowledge!
What I mean by "encouraging students to do their best in school" is that I will strive to help students recognize and act upon their capabilities. As I mentioned earlier, one of my main goals is to show genuine interest towards students and to really let them know how much I care about them succeeding. I will do my best to not be a simple fact presenter in front of the classroom. I really do want my students to succeed and feel great about themselves. Most importantly, I want them to want to learn. That quality about my teaching is what I hope will set me apart from "the drama class teacher."
Lastly, from having had the student teaching experience of getting to know some of my students very closely, I now realize more than ever the magnitude of outside school life for students. I realize that I need to be very flexible, understanding, and simply reasonable when it comes to students' everyday behavior in my classroom. I have definitely learned over the last few months that coming into a science class and performing their very best is not on top of most of students' lists. Many of them have quite extreme outside school situations going on that can really affect their learning. Situations such as family members dying, parents divorcing, being bullied by other students or even feeling an extreme pressure by their parents to be perfect. These are all real scenarios that I have learned about during my student teaching. It has certainly been an eye opening experience and it has definitely made me be more compassionate and understanding towards students.
"The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires."
Also, as a future teacher, I am very hopeful and excited about the idea of changing students' lives. I am really looking forward to having "little minds" all to myself for a whole school year in hopes to install some passion for knowledge in them.
My reason behind wanting to install passion for knowledge and learning is pretty straightforward: there is so much information around us to learn! By installing passion for learning, students will naturally gravitate towards new and exciting material.
What I mean by being able to engage in scientifically critical thinking, is that students should learn to be open to new information; they should be able to absorb, analyze, and evaluate information that's presented to them. I'd like to teach my students to be able to critically think about new material and to explain it in their own words rather than just memorize facts.
As far as promoting critical thinking in my own classroom, I will definitely establish a classroom climate that is based on mutual regard and respect. This kind of environment would give a real purpose to my teaching and would go beyond any technical aspects of a teacher's role. I would demand from myself to be as authentic as I possibly could be. A few key things that I would attempt to do in my classroom are the following:
To achieve these goals, I will aspire to show my students that I care about them and their education. I plan on being a very approachable teacher. My goal as a future educator is to be a great role model for the students, to motivate them to give their very best in school and to express respect towards learning as well as towards their peers in the classroom. As a science teacher, I realize that I need to constantly provide opportunities for the students to be engaged and to be able to relate to the material being taught. I plan on incorporating teaching strategies that will help the students to actively participate in learning. For example, labs are a great way for the students to apply the lecture information through activity and exploration. In the laboratory, students can question the lecture material, develop hypotheses, design experiments, and collect as well as analyze data. In addition, I plan on providing numerous opportunities for group work during lessons. Socialization and peer learning/teaching is of great importance during adolescent years and I intend to generate as many opportunities for that as I possibly can. Also, I've learned (through student teaching experience) that connecting the material in the classroom to students' lives is extremely important. Throughout my student teaching, I've found it helpful and useful to bring in current news events that relate to the whatever topic we're learning. Also, students really enjoy this, they often bring in their own articles or share any news they've heard on the radio or seen on the TV. This kind of sharing of current new events has been a great way for connecting the classroom material to the real world.
I truly enjoy learning myself and especially science. I love the critical thinking aspect about the sciences. It is so fascinating and it applies to everyday life and literally to every person. I intend to inspire my future students to love learning and to continually seek new challenges in acquiring knowledge!
What I mean by "encouraging students to do their best in school" is that I will strive to help students recognize and act upon their capabilities. As I mentioned earlier, one of my main goals is to show genuine interest towards students and to really let them know how much I care about them succeeding. I will do my best to not be a simple fact presenter in front of the classroom. I really do want my students to succeed and feel great about themselves. Most importantly, I want them to want to learn. That quality about my teaching is what I hope will set me apart from "the drama class teacher."
Lastly, from having had the student teaching experience of getting to know some of my students very closely, I now realize more than ever the magnitude of outside school life for students. I realize that I need to be very flexible, understanding, and simply reasonable when it comes to students' everyday behavior in my classroom. I have definitely learned over the last few months that coming into a science class and performing their very best is not on top of most of students' lists. Many of them have quite extreme outside school situations going on that can really affect their learning. Situations such as family members dying, parents divorcing, being bullied by other students or even feeling an extreme pressure by their parents to be perfect. These are all real scenarios that I have learned about during my student teaching. It has certainly been an eye opening experience and it has definitely made me be more compassionate and understanding towards students.
"The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires."
~William Arthur Ward